Cynics Unlimited

Bloggers — spread this story far and wide. It is about Xue Longlong of Xian in the People’s Republic of China and allegations that some local officials are stealing individual education files and selling them to those who did not get good grades.

For Mr. Xue, the implications are huge because without that file and proof of good grades and college graduation, Chinese citizens essentially cease to exist. In other words, when you steal the accumulated education file, you are stealing who they are and what they could become – the most extreme form of identity theft!

What a horrifying idea. He worked hard for years and does well, preparing for a hopeful future and in one corrupt moment, it is gone and he is doomed to a life of servitude. Which may explain why he is speaking out to the western media — because he has little to lose.

To a westerner, the audacity is enough to take our breath away. Read this New York Time article at Jack’s Newswatch.

As a Canadian citizen, I just cannot imagine how anyone could steal another person’s academic record and that person’s identity without it being obvious. Why, for example, can Mr. Xue not simply get a duplicate file or a transcript from the college where he graduated?

Moreover, if selling a personal file is corruption so is accepting one as valid. Surely there are photographs or home addresses or other personal identifying information. In other words, no excuses should be accepted by Chinese authorities when a local official says some files were inadvertently “lost.”

As the NYT article by Sharon LaFraniere states:

“[In China] the files are irreplaceable histories of achievement and failure, the starting point for potential employers, government officials and others judging an individual’s worth.”

“But two years ago, Mr. Xue’s file did vanish. So did the files of at least 10 others, all 2006 college graduates with exemplary records, all from poor families living near this gritty north-central town on the wide banks of the Yellow River.”

“With the Manila folders went their futures, they say.”

“Local officials said the files were lost when state workers moved them from the first to the second floor of a government building. But the graduates say they believe officials stole the files and sold them to underachievers seeking new identities and better job prospects — a claim bolstered by a string of similar cases across China.”

How can that happen?

If readers have an e-mail address to people within China, please send them the URL to both the NYT article and this post. We must get the word out! Here  also is contact information for the People’s Republic of China embassy in Ottawa.

Remember, in any communications to Chinese officials, be courteous and polite as that is a cultural expectation. Simply ask them to request that their central government get to the bottom of these allegations. Files were lost. That we can confirm. If the officials who lost them were promoted, something is not right.

Moreover, if the Chinese government simply discounts or blames the victims, – including Mr. Xue – that is not right either. No Chinese citizen will risk going to the western media unless there is truth to the allegations. And, the fact that he has spoken out, shows he is trying to expose this issue.

Let’s use the Internet to help.

C/P at Crux-of-the-Matter and Jack’s Newswatch.